Cottonwood House is a first class heritage facility near Quesnel

Stephen should really be running this program. We zoomed up to Hell’s Gate where Debbie McKinney stamped Stephen’s passport and told us the passports delivered the day before were already flying off the counter. Then it was on to Yale and the museum and, of course, the church. Now, the next site in the passport document is Hill’s Bar and since it’s on the other side of the Fraser River, I suggested we simply stop at the side of the road and I would stamp Stephen’s passport. “Oh, we can find a better place than that,” he said, and before you know it, he’s carrying a box of passports into the Hope River General Store, where Kathy Hope not only agrees to take part but tells us some wonderful things about the store, the adjacent campsite and her plans, generally. By the time I pull into the parking lot of the Hope Visitor Centre & Museum complex, I’m wondering how many more stamp sites Stephen’s going to find between here and Tsawwassen, where I have to drop him off to catch a ferry back home. Inge Wilson of Hope takes delivery and with the last stamp in place, Stephen has become the first to complete Route One. As we drive to the ferry, we muse on how relatively fast and easy a journey we’ve had. After all, it’s taken us just two days and a bit to travel the road to Barkerville and back, something that in 1869 would have taken a traveller a couple of months (depending on his conveyance).  We also marvel at the overwhelmingly positive response to the Chasing the Golden Butterfly program. Folks just seem to connect with it. It all bodes well. I cannot thank Stephen enough as I say good-bye at the ferry terminal. He’s soon going on vacation and who knows? He might just do Routes Two and Three this summer…

Stephen at the Stanley graveyard

(SISKA FLATS) It’s pitch black, which is saying something because this is one of the longest days of the year. It feels like one of the longest days in my life — in a good way. One thing you have to know about travelling with Stephen is that he rises early, hits the road in a hurry and doesn’t seem to have an off switch. That’s why we’re here, parked in the dark by Siska Flats, searching for our one remaining stamp to mark his passport. We’ve given the others (all butterfly stamps, of course) away along the route. It all started in Quesnel, where we dropped off the documents at the wonderful Visitor Centre-Museum complex and, of course, got Stephen’s passport stamped. After that, it became a bit of a blur — we stopped at Cottonwood House Historic site and were given a grand tour of this incredibly well-preserved road house and grounds. We made it to Wells and Barkerville and then we used our GPS to find Stanley, where we found ourselves standing at the head of a 21-kilometre section of virtually intact Cariboo Waggon Road.

After that, we used the GPS to find a few more of the sites where there aren’t many visible remains, like Wingdam and Beaver Pass House for instance. Then we bombed down the highway and Stephen decided that 70 Mile needed a stamp site, so we went into the 70 Mile Motel and Corral Restaurant where Joan Zelmer graciously agreed to take on the job. And we just kept going, what with Stephen bent on getting his passport stamped at every opportunity, and so down through Ashcroft, Spences Bridge and Lytton until we hit Siska Flats, where the histroic (but little-known) meeting between Chief Spintlum and Captain Snyder took place in 1858, ending the short but bloody Canyon War. By that time it was getting late and Stephen agreed we should overnight in Hope — but only if we went back up to Hell’s Gate in the morning. “I have to have a Hell’s Gate stamp in my passport,” he insisted. I was so tired that I refrained from making by usual remark that, beyond Hope is Hell’s Gate. There’s be plenty of time in the morning…

(QUESNEL) It’s late by the time we finally get to Quesnel, check into our motel and grab a bite of dinner. It’s been a very long day and we’ve covered a lot of ground. Stephen is just as chipper and loquacious as when I picked him up at the ferry terminal – when was that? Seems a very long time ago, but it was just this morning. That was quite a trip. Tomorrow’s agenda is just as ambitious – Quesnel to Barkerville then all the way to Hope. Better get some shut-eye…

Soda Creek elder Ralph Phillips stamps
Stephen’s passport at Xatsu’ll village

(XATSU’LL HERITAGE VILLAGE)  The sun’s setting and the smoke from the camp fire is drifting up into a cloudless sky as we walk up to Ralph Phillips, who has been patiently waiting for us (we’re about an hour late). The smoke is a good thing – keeps the mosquitoes off. This is a great site – pithouses and traditional shelters mixing with a few teepees that have been added for dramatic effect. Ralph speaks about the importance of sharing the stories of this place to visitors. It is tempting to stay here and talk into the night, but we have one more stop a long way down the road – Quesnel.

The 108 gang stamping Stephen’s
passport on the porch

(108 MILE HERITAGE SITE) Sun’s out in full, sparkling off the lake and it’s as warm as that Cariboo welcome we’re getting from Mary Ann Rutledge and the rest of the heritage society that have made this a premier attraction. From the house and store to the brand new church, it’s a marvelous place to visit. We’re lingering a bit here, reluctant to leave. But we gotta press on – next stop, Soda Creek and Xatsu’ll.

Bonnie Prill of the Clinton Museum stamping
Stephen Hume’s passport

(CLINTON) You should’a seed us sprintin’ to the ball at Clinton. Too bad we missed it by a week. But the museum was just as good. Stephen and I were greatly impressed by the collection and the way it’s displayed. It’s one of the nicest small community museums we’ve ever seen. And of course, they’re delighted to get their copies of the passport. Museum curator Bonnie Prill stamped Stephen’s passport for him and another Ash-Cache Journal correspondent showed up to take his picture. Ah well, we wasn’t planning any mischief no-how. Guess we’ll mosey on up to 100 Mile – maybe we can escape the media glare up there…

Hat Creek Ranch’s Sandra Gaspard foils Humes’ stage coach hold up and stamps his passport.

 (HAT CREEK) Well, the stage coach hold up didn’t go exactly as planned – some photographer from the Ashcroft-Cache Creek Journal was there watching our every move. Even took a few incriminating photographs of Stephen in the stage coach, which made it kinda hard to stick ‘em up. Had to content ourselves with dropping off a a box of passports and getting Stephen’s document stamped. Sandra Gaspard of Historic Hat Creek Ranch does the honour and we slink away, dreaming of what might have been… Oh well, there’s always the ball in Clinton to look forward to…

                                     
The first stamp…                                                The Delivery Team

June 22, Day One: Cache Creek to Quesnel Part One)

CACHE CREEK – It’s 1:50 p.m. and we’re bombing along in my compact car and just heading down the hill into town when Stephen Hume glances out the window and says: “Don’t worry – we’ll make it on time.” This is no mean feat: we’re supposed to be in Cache Creek at the Gold Country Communities Society offices to pick up boxes of passports and so Stephen can get his passport stamped. The Vancouver Sun columnist, author and poet has graciously agreed to be the first to chase the golden butterfly up Route One. I have fought the Lower Mainland’s notorious traffic to pick him up at the Tsawwassen ferry terminal at 9:00 a.m. During our mad dash up the Fraser Valley and Canyon, we have stopped at the Chilliwack Canadian Tire to pick up a GPS device (thanks to manager John Vorster for giving us a great price) so we can find some of those geocaches along the way and in Bridal Falls for gas. We’d be in CC by now if it wasn’t for all that summer roadwork – stopped three times along the way. Not that we should complain about them fixing up the roads, mind you, but geeezzz… We pull into the Gold Country offices just off the highway and it’s a beehive of activity. There’s Amy Thacker and Heidi Roy of Gold Country, Cheryl Chapman from the New Pathways To Gold board and NPTGS Executive Director Gord Rattray, Fraser Valley Regional District Electoral Area B Representative Denis Adamson, Scott Rice from the Packing House in Spences Bridge – all bustling about, lifting boxes, grabbing envelopes full of information on the program. Everyone loads up and gets ready to head out. We’ve got passports to deliver. But we stop long enough for Stephen to get the first stamp in his passport and of course, the obligatory photo-op. Everyone roars madly off in all directions, including Stephen and me. We have a stage coach to hold up in Hat Creek…